Major achievements :
1) always achieved distinction during schooling
2) stood 3rd from college in HSSC examination
3) ranked in top 25 from college/ 3rd from section / 15 from branch in 1st yr BE exam
4) Successfully implemented Offshore-Onsite model at Medical devices company in US.

Career Achievement :
1) Onsite Account Manager for Oracle ERPs for a major medical devices client
2) promoted from team member to module lead to module owner in quick time during the start of the career.
3) Winner of star performer, developer of the quarter etc.

"This is Nishant. I've been following your MBA blog for quite sometime and wishing to pursue my MBA from ISB or a top 20 US B-school. Seeing your experience with MBA Consultation, I would love have your say on whether it would be feasible for me to apply to any of the B schools mentioned above.

I belong to the dreaded Indian IT Male background, with a total of 3 years of experience in Wipro and INFOSYS as an ERP/SAP Consultant. I'm an Electronics & CommunicationEngineer from a non-NIT/IIT college. Although I do have a good and recent GMAT score of 740 with 6/6 in AWA and 86 percent in class 10th, my 12th standard and undergrad scores are both in the 65 percent category. I've worked on some challenging projects at work and my extra curriculars range from playing guitar in a music group throughout the past 5 years, sports related awards and I've written articles for many entertainment websites in which I've done movie and book reviews. I have a 94 percentile vocab score on GMAT and 97 percentile in total but I'm skeptical about the 12th score breaking my application.

So, I need a genuine opinion, do I have s realistic chance at any of the top 20 US B schools and ISB? I know you guys don't suggest any schools in particular. I'm just asking if it would be feasible for me to apply any of the top B schoolsin the US and ISB in India? If yes, then I would love to hire your services. And from the financial point of you, I can afford an MBA from any top schools with a loan and a scholarship(50 lakhs is the maximum I can spend). So yeah, do revert to me at the earliest as I wish to apply by the January deadline."

I am confused on whether to make an ISB application with my current score or not?
Is ISB a good option for my profile?

<<snip>>

3) Winner of star performer, developer of the quarter etc.

A few points worth considering:

From an overall profile perspective on the work dimension, you are ideally poised. You have not mentioned your post-MBA plans however - that will also dictate whether you have thought things through.

In general, the IIMs would have been a better bet for you given the age/experience factor. Worth checking out the IIM L and I programs - the 1 year ones.

While the GMAT is likely to be a HUGE hurdle for ISB, I would still recommend giving it a shot. The reason is because your next best alternative is not applying - which isn't great. Worst case, you apply again next year with a better score - but you wouldn't have lost much.

"This is Nishant. I've been following your MBA blog for quite sometime and wishing to pursue my MBA from ISB or a top 20 US B-school. Seeing your

<<snip>>

Thanks & Cheers,
-Nishant Thakur

A few thoughts on your predicament Nishant:

Though the IT pool, it is important to understand when you say 'challenging', what kind of work you've done? And does that differentiate you - at least from those in your company peer group? Another important question to clear out is the post-MBA plans. An honest self-reflection on these dimensions will help you firm up the resolve better.

From a purely analytical/objective point of view, you should still have a shot at some good schools out there. The budget though seems amiss. Is that with a loan or without? If the former, then do some more research.

I have slightly messed up goals with respect to my profile. I wish to work either at international agency or at a think tank in the area of public policy and strategy. But, I am looking at that goal 10 years down the line. As a short term goal, I think Consulting will help me reach my goal. However, currently I am working with Qualcomm as an Engineer in R&D. I wish to know your comments about whether my profile and my goals would be able to convince the selection committee? Or shd I change my profession before applying?

Employment:- Joined CSR, which got acquired by Qualcomm. [2 years]- System Software EngineerAchievements:- Filed Two patent, proposed and implemented two key features in Automobile GPS solutions. Promoted within 1.5 years.Other Activities:- Made Innovation Ambassador for the erstwhile CSR Bangalore office by Patent Counsel of the Qualcomm. Given the charge for the formation of groups for brainstorming different ideas.
Given technical workshops on the topics of Statistics to the R&D teams
Conducted events on Women's day, Chess tournament, Annual day.

NGO Activity:- Assistant director at a youth led think tank-IPAN(have good reputation with to Univ of Barcelona and fellows even from IIMs) Activities:- Incharge for selection of Interns and the publicity for the same
Led two research projects (public policy) with the teams of 3-4 members and published the reports on Huffing ton posts and to the government.
Currently preparing responses to various call for public comments by Government agencies regarding the new bills.

Extracurriculars in College:
Co-founder and Administrative head of debating society, and raised the member ship to 200 in an year.
Won awards in various debating events in Delhi
Conducted (Quiz master) of biggest Quizzes in College.

Career Goals: In around 10 years, (with or without phd), work with international agency/think tanks/consulting in the area of public policy and strategy
As a short term goal, really dnt know, may be management consulting or agencies like Melinda Gates Foundation

Problems which I can see.
1. I cant quantify my work at Qualcomm in numbers. For example:- how much profit/business bcz of me. But I have contributed qualitatively towards team and also filed patents and papers. Also conducted workshops.
2. Again, my work at think tank is largely related to producing articles. I have led many teams(3-4 members) at 3 different occasion. Though I was responsible for entire (very first) intern ship program, right from publicity to the interviews and selection. (got 45 applications and selected 8 out of them). Is it sufficient for showcasing leadership potential?

Please evaluate my profile and provide your feedback as to what could be the gray areas in my profile. I am planing to apply for 2017 batch. So I have one year to build my profile. Please suggest the areas where I can improve upon to connect the dots from Engineering to Public Policy and strategy.

I have slightly messed up goals with respect to my profile. I wish to work either at international agency or at a think tank in the area of public policy and strategy. But, I am looking at that goal 10 years down the line. As a short term goal, I think Consulting will help me reach my goal. However, currently I am

<<snip>>

Please evaluate my profile and provide your feedback as to what could be the gray areas in my profile. I am planing to apply for 2017 batch. So I have one year to build my profile. Please suggest the areas where I can improve upon to connect the dots from Engineering to Public Policy and strategy.

Thnx in advance.

Jumping into your queries Vivek:

If you try hard enough, it is usually possible to quantify almost everything. So if you think you can't do that, it means you've not tried enough!

The work does sound interesting. Whether it is good enough and whether your goals story make sense however is a subject for larger discussion. Something that you may find either our Profile Builder or MBA MAP package relevant for.

I am Sai Charan, a Mechanical Engineer working at Mitsubishi Electric India from June 2015. I graduated from Shiv Nadar University in 2015. I have a good academic profile (GPA= 8.5 and GMAT 710, Q-50,V-36). My profile is also a bit unique from the other candidates due to the multidisciplinary nature of the course structure at the university, allowing me to take up courses from Economics and English, widening my horizons.

I want to shift to the consulting industry, and I want your opinion on the chances of a non IIT Engineer making it into the top firms in the industry (M/B/B or Big 4 audit). I have an admit at ISB through their Young Leader's Program (Classes begin April 2017), and know that this represents the best shot at such prestigious companies. But, I want to work in the industry for a few years and then pursue my MBA from the top Universities in the US.

I have gone through the various packages offered on your website and thought about getting your opinion on a realistic shot of me getting a job, before subscribing for any of those.

I am Sai Charan, a Mechanical Engineer working at Mitsubishi Electric India from June 2015. I graduated from Shiv Nadar University in 2015. I <<snip>>

job, before subscribing for any of those.

Regards,
Sai Charan

Sai,

Your profile is still in the formative stages - for reasons mentioned here, we do not indulge in guess-work about school selection chances.

In general, I am of the school of thought that a bird in hand is worth two in the bush - so ISB would get my vote. If not, then perhaps you could check out our Profile Builder package that may give you a more structured view on the chances, among other things.

Dear Sir,
I have 2 questions
1. which is most suitable for me
isb pgp (1 year), FMS Mba(2 year) and IIMC or older ones pgp(2 year)
i will tell you my profile
10 th - 85 %
12 th - 85%
b.tech - 65%
work exp- 3 years 8 months as software engineer in a small startup in an IT firm. We have 20 employees. Out of which i will be in 5 th position. and also i got excellence award too. Lead 2 projects for leading companies.
Won school / college competitions.
GMAT - 740 [Expected]

Which one is more suitable for me. I prefer consulting , but i know it will be difficult . So i will take IT sector and which is best for IT ?
2. What are my chances to get in to ISB ? With out scholarships i can not do anything. What are my chances to get scholarship (full fee scheme) ?what are the factors affecting this?

2. What are my chances to get in to ISB ? With out scholarships i can not do anything. What are my chances to get scholarship (full fee scheme) ?what are the factors affecting this?

A few thoughts for you isbkid:

While the startup experience is great, the nature of your work is not clear. That will dictate your chances in the post-MBA role. If you like consulting, then provided you can show sufficient effort in that regard, it can still fly.

Predicting scholarship chances is virtually impossible. There are pretty good student loans available so don't rely only on scholarships would be my suggestion.

With your years of experience, I would not really recommend CAT based programs. You are likely to fall short for the 1 year IIM courses. So ISB will be the best bet.